U.S. Nats 2008 runner-up Beckman eyes win in Countdown opener

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2010 NHRA FULL THROTTLE DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 18 of 23
Round 1 of six in Countdown to the Championship
56th annual U.S. Nationals
O'Reilly Raceway Park
Clermont, Ind.
Sept. 3-6, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

U.S. NATIONALS 2008 RUNNER-UP BECKMAN EYES WIN IN COUNTDOWN OPENER

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (Sept. 1, 2010) - Everyone who knows Jack Beckman knows he
analyzes just about every possible aspect when it comes to competing in the
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. He is true to form as he prepares to
race the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car in this
weekend's 56th annual U.S. Nationals, the first event of the six-race
Countdown to the Championship.

During and after a productive test session at O'Reilly Raceway Park last
Thursday, where the U.S. Nationals will be held this weekend, Beckman, the
2008 U.S. Nationals runner-up, took notes and came up with a fluid scenario
for a successful weekend.

"The truth of the matter is," he said, "big numbers in testing are awesome
but they don't give you points or trophies for testing. We only made four
runs, while a lot of teams made five, six or even seven. We didn't run once
it cooled down because we're very confident with the way our car runs on
cool tracks. We smoked the tires once, and made two planned half-track
shutoff runs. One would have been a 4.08 (-second run) or a 4.09, so we were
right there. And then we went out in the heat and ran 4.16 at 301 mph, and
we were pleased with that.

"This is the first year that Indy is actually going to be a Countdown race,
and this event is so big that it if you did nothing else all year and you
won Indy it would be a year you would never forget," added Beckman, who
enters the Countdown third in the standings.

"But, now, the points are reset and it's like the start of a new season.
There are 10 of us who have tightened way up in the points and have a shot
at the crown. For our Valvoline/MTS team, if we win this race, we will come
out of it in first or second place.

"To say that we don't care about points right now wouldn't be completely
accurate because, yeah, we want to win the race and the points will handle
themselves, but NHRA kind of threw a wrench into the works last year adding
these extra bonus points for qualifying, and the way the points reset for
the Countdown, all the cars are within a half a round or one round of each
other (round wins earn 20 points).

"Well, that means if you can pick up one point in qualifying relative to the
other cars, it's huge at the end of the season. It's absolutely enormous.
It's not that we don't try our best in every qualifying session, but right
now you have to try to get at least one point, as the top three cars will
get three, two, one points in every single qualifying session.

"If there's no weather-related issues, we have 25 opportunities during the
Countdown to earn qualifying bonus points (Indy has a fifth qualifying
session). That means there's potentially 75 points available if youčre
quickest each round through the end of the year, not even counting regular
qualifying points. It's important to grab as many of those as you can.

"Indy is also unique that it's the only race where you start out qualifying
with a night session," continued Beckman who has never won the U.S.
Nationals in his nine career victories in 21 final rounds. "And it would be
fantastic to run quick out of the box, make a statement early, and try to
get some of those bonus points on Friday.

"In addition, we have many cool things going on this week in Indianapolis
that will keep us busy, including a visit to the Riley Hospital for Children
on Wednesday and the Don Schumacher Racing Open House on Friday. The event
is a day longer than any other event, but they give away the same-sized
trophy. The finals are on Monday instead of Sunday, and I'd love to be
standing there holding that trophy on Monday afternoon."

Mail Terminal Services will continue to send boxes of post cards of support
and encouragement, along with hand-out cards of DSR drivers, National
Dragster and Drag Racing Action magazines to soldiers overseas. This year
the program expands the opportunity to participate beyond just the NHRA fans
and are including schools and service organizations. If a school or
organization would like to write post cards of encouragement to the U.S.
troops, the request should be sent to mts.mfh@gmail.com. MTS will be pleased
to send post cards for the project and signed handout cards from Funny Car
driver Jack Beckman and a Certificate of Service for the school or
organization.
 
To find out more about Mail Terminal Services go to www.mailterminals.com
 
JACK BECKMAN QUICK FACTS:
* No. 3 in 2010 Funny Car points entering the Countdown after 17 events:
including five semifinal finishes, a victory in Phoenix  and three
runner-ups (St. Louis, Sonoma and Brainerd)
* 2008 U.S. Nationals runner-up (Tony Pedregon)
* Qualified No. 14 at 2009 U.S. Nats, lost first round to Mike Neff
* Has 28-16 round-win record for 2010
* Ended 2009 No. 5 in point standings, winning two events in five final
rounds (Atlanta; Norwalk, Ohio)
* Entered 2009 Countdown to 1 in fifth place
* His 2009 round win-loss record is 29-22
* No. 3 in 2008 Funny Car point standings, with three victories - Phoenix,
Reading, Concord - in seven final rounds
* Was bumped out of the 2007 Countdown to Four playoffs standings at the
Richmond, Va., event, after his teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps reached
the semifinal round. Ended the season No. 5 in points
* In his 105 national events in Top Fuel and Funny Car, he has won nine
times in 21 final rounds (all in Funny Car), and has a career round win-loss
record of 126-91
* Is the 2007 U.S. Smokeless Showdown winner ($100,000 bonus event held at
U.S. Nationals)
* Set national elapsed-time record of 4.662 seconds and national speed
record of 333.66 mph (on quarter-mile) at final 2006 event in Pomona,
Calif. The ET record has since been eclipsed. Beckman still holds the speed
record
* As a Funny Car rookie in the last five races of 2006, he qualified No. 1
once (Pomona 2), reached two final rounds (Las Vegas 2 and Pomona 2), won
once (Vegas 2), and set both ends of the national record (Pomona 2)
* Residence: Norco, Calif.
* Hometown: Granada Hills, Calif.
* Date of birth: June 28, 1966
* Married, Jenna (wedding date 11/7/06), son Jason Russell (3/8/07)
* Height/weight: 6'0", 185 lbs.
* Former instructor and current consultant at Frank Hawley's NHRA
Championship Drag Racing School; former Sergeant in U.S. Air Force
(1984-88); cancer survivor; licensed in nine different NHRA categories
* First Start in TF: Las Vegas 1 2005
* First Start in FC: , Dallas,  Texas, 2006
* Competed in only 12 TF events in 2005, ended season 15th in points
* Career-best elapsed time racing to 1000 feet is 4.040 seconds (Concord 1
'09)
* Career-best speed racing to 1000 feet is 314.61 mph (Chicago '10)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.662 seconds (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best FC (quarter-mile) speed: 333.66 mph (Pomona 2 '06)
* Career-best TF (quarter-mile) elapsed time: 4.563 seconds (TF, Brainerd
2005)
* Career-best (quarter-mile) TF speed: 324.28 mph (TF, Brainerd 2005)
* In 2003 won Super Comp world championship in Lucas Oil Series and Division
7 Super Comp championship
* Leads 14-time champion John Force in head-to-head round wins: 12-6 (2-1 in
final rounds) - DOES NOT INCLUDE CONCORD FOUR-WIDE EVENT

SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, Sept. 3 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, Sept. 4 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 3 and 6 p.m.
SUNDAY, Sept. 5 - FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30
p.m.
MONDAY, Sept. 6 - Pre-race ceremonies, 9:30 a.m. FULL THROTTLE SERIES
eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

TELEVISION:
Sunday, Sept. 5, ESPN2 HD will televise one hour of qualifying coverage at
10 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, Sept. 5, ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute magazine
show at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, Sept. 5, ESPN2 HD will televise two hours and 30 minutes of
qualifying coverage at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, Sept. 5, ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at
5 p.m. (ET).
Monday, Sept. 6, ESPN2 HD will televise five hours of eliminations coverage
at 1 p.m. (ET).

SATELLITE (Digital SD feed):
Friday, Sept. 3, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET) - AMC 3/ Transponder 21K
Saturday, Sept. 4, 9:30 - 10 p.m. (ET) - AMC 3 / Transponder 21K
Sunday, Sept. 5, 8- 8:30 p.m. (ET) - AMC 3 / Transponder 21K
Monday, Sept. 6, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET) - AMC 3 / Transponder 21K
(12120 MHz, horizontal; Data Rate: 18.295441161 Mbp; Symbol Rate: 13.235 Ms;
FEC: Ÿ; Bandwidth: 18 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners'
interviews on Monday.

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